Judging Goldstone

By Ted Belman | 10/23/09

If you haven’t seen the movie Judgement at Nuremberg, you should. It was a movie of the trial of 16 Nazi Justices. One Judge in the dock, Schlegelberger, played by Burt Lancaster, was a good man who had reluctantly served the Nazi Regime until he resigned for reasons of conscience in 1942. He was found guilty. And in the end he agreed the verdict was a just one. This case is referred to by Ayal Rosenberg in GOLDSTONE : A CRITIQUE OF... read more »

IDF Did More to Safeguard Civilians Than Any Army in History of Warfare

By Ted Belman | 10/18/09

Thank you, Mr. President, I am the former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan. I served with NATO and the United Nations; commanded troops in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Macedonia; and participated in the Gulf War. I spent considerable time in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, and worked on international terrorism for the UK Government’s Joint Intelligence Committee. Mr. President, based on my knowledge and experience, I... read more »

Israel: Guilty until proven innocent

By Ted Belman | 10/11/09

The Goldstone Commission Inquiry reported that “Israel was guilty of war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.” But I thought it was a fact finding inquiry only. The Forward reports Goldstone: ‘If This Was a Court Of Law, There Would Have Been Nothing Proven.’. WOW. What an admission. Tellingly, in an interview with the Forward on October 2, Goldstone himself acknowledged the tentative nature of his... read more »

HIKIND TO LEAD MISSION TO JUDEA AND SAMARIA

By Ted Belman | 10/05/09

“NO JEWS ALLOWED.” “JEWS NOT WELCOME.” Berlin, Germany, 1938? Selma, Alabama, 1958? Think again. How about Jerusalem, 2010? Think it can’t happen? Think again. If the current U.S. administration has its way, we may very well see these signs in the not so distant future. Dear Friend, I am writing to you about a mission I am planning that may well change the landscape of the Jewish homeland. I know how close... read more »

What are “the legitimate rights of the Palestinians”?

By Ted Belman | 10/02/09

Last week Pres Obama addressed the UNGA on the subject of the conflict between Arabs and Jews conflict and had this to say; …I will also continue to seek a just and lasting peace between Israel, Palestine, and the Arab world. What is noteworthy here, is that he referred to “Palestine” like it was a state already. Is that not pre-judging the outcome? He also wants there to be peace with the “Arab world”... read more »

The Master Plan

By Ted Belman | 09/25/09

Conventional wisdom tells us that western Europe and America are pressing Israel for concessions in order to placate the Arabs. In my recent article Israel can and must act in her own best interests. I wrote: Shortly thereafter (1938) Ben Gurion made his case to Malcolm MacDonald, the Colonial Secretary, who suggested, that the Arab and Muslim world could rise up and threaten the British Empire and therefore to prevent this, Britain had... read more »

Why have a forced marriage?

By Ted Belman | 09/23/09

Sultan Knish suggests Why Israel is Losing the Military and Media Wars The answer is simple enough. Defensive PR, like defensive warfare, never works. And Israeli PR and Israeli warfare has been on the defensive for decades now. If you break down Israel’s message to a single sentence, it’s “We didn’t do any of the things we’re accused of.” That is the kind of message you expect to hear from criminal... read more »

Israel is not guilty as charged

By Ted Belman | 09/17/09

REUTERS REPORTS ON THE GOLDSTONE REPORT JUST RELEASED TODAY “The mission concluded that actions amounting to war crimes, and possibly in some respects crimes against humanity, were committed by the Israel Defence Force,” U.N. investigator Richard Goldstone told reporters. In response, Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva issued a statement that criticized Goldstone’s mission and explained why Israel did... read more »

Who cares about “negotiations”?

By Ted Belman | 09/15/09

  Mitchell, Netanyahu fail to agree on settlement halt.   But don’t stand up and cheer just yet. Mitchell is still hanging around. Netanyahu told his party: “In any case, I will not agree to enter into talks whose results are defined and known in advance. That’s what negotiations are for and we are willing to begin right away.” In discussing the talks with the United States on freezing... read more »

All the more reason to support Netanyahu

By Ted Belman | 09/14/09

I attended the Jewish Blogger's Conference in Jerusalem last night. It was sponsored by Nefesh b’Nefesh and WebAds. A very exciting event. I had a long conversation with Ashley Perry, International Media Advisor to the Deputy Foreign Ministry. More on that after I meet with him again. But the highlight for me was the speech given by Ron Dermer described by Wikipedia as follows, Ron Dermer was Israel’s Minister of Economic... read more »